The XL Spring Series is underway at 888poker, and eight players have become champions, padding their bankrolls with princely sums, giving themselves plenty of ammunition for the remainder of the online poker festival.
The series has already awarded a trio of five-figure scores. “DarshanS” banked $11,200 after winning the $40,000 Opening Event High Roller, while two players in the $120,000 opening Event Mystery Bounty walked away with more than $10,000 each.
Brail’s “joicemar154” saw their $109 investment swell to $10,718 after they outlasted 1,099 opponents and became Event #03’s champion. The eighth-place finisher in the same event, another Brazilian in “vzb_poker” also scooped more than $10,000 ($14,560 to be exact) after pulling out the $12,000 jackpot mystery bounty before they busted.
$120,000 XL Spring #03 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | joicemar154 | Brazil | 3,729,656 | 62 |
| 2 | popsnpoker | Canada | 3,032,176 | 51 |
| 3 | acefrommoon | Romania | 2,422,638 | 40 |
| 4 | LaserMammoth | Sweden | 2,053,878 | 34 |
| 5 | charlienutt2 | United Kingdom | 1,575,209 | 26 |
| 6 | Mr.Krabs | Kazahkstan | 1,293,030 | 22 |
| 7 | vzb_poker | Brazil | 1,210,007 | 20 |
| 8 | BrittneySpew | Romania | 913,406 | 15 |
The first elimination occurred during the opening 15 minutes of the final table, and it was “vzb_poker” who busted. With blinds of 35,000/70,000/8,750a, “charlienutt2” min-raised with ace-queen from early position, “joicemar154” three-bet all-in for 4,538,376 from the next seat along with ace-king, and “vzb_poker” called off their 1,481,257 chips from the button with pocket jacks. Once “charlienutt2” ducked out of the way, the dealer fanned the community cards, and an ace on the turn sent the jackpot bounty winner to the rail.
Romania’s “BrittneySpew,” an 888poker regular, was the next to find themselves without any chips. The action folded to “BrittneySpew” on the button, and they shoved their 887,156 stack into the middle with pocket sixes. “joicemar154” called in the big blind with ace-ten, and won the coinflip courtesy of an ace on the flop, then improving to a flush on the turn.
“Mr.Krabs”‘ tournament went sideways when they clashed with the seemingly unstoppable “joicemar154.” “Mr.Krabs” committed their 984,030 stack from the button with pocket queens during the 40,000/80,000/10,000a level after “popsnpoker” had min-raised under the gun with ace-four of hearts. Usually, such a move would have won the blinds and antes, but not this time because “joicemar154” woke up in the big blind with pocket aces and three-bet all-in with their colossal stack. “popsnpoker” mucked, and the aces of the chip leader won after improving to an unnecessary set on the river.
“acefrommooon” was left with a little over ten big blinds when their two pair lost to a slightly better two pair held by “LaserMammoth.” That left “acefrommoon” as the shortest stack and in need of a double. They attempted to rebuild their stack by jamming under the gun with ace-nine, only for “joicemar154” to look them up in the small blind with ace-ten. The ten-kicker played, and “acefrommoon” became the latest “joicemar154” victim.
“joicemar154” eliminated their fifth final table opponent in a blind versus blind confrontation with “popsnpoker.” “joicemar154” raised three-times the big blind to 300,000 with ten-nine from the small blind, and “popsnpoker” called in the big blind with king queen. The flop fell jack-king-eight, “joicemar154” led for 100,000 and was called. The turn was a seven, gifting the runaway chip leader a straight against top pair. “joicemar154” bet561,000, and “popsnpoker” called again. An offsuit six completed the board, and “joicemar154” bet enough to set their opponent all-in. “popsnpoker” called off their 1,645,795 chips only to discover top pair was no good.
Third place went to “charlienutt2” after they clashed with “LaserMammoth,” with “joicemar154” taking a short break from their duties as a one player wrecking ball. “charlienutt2” min-raised to 200,000 with ace-king, and “LaserMammoth” defended their big blind with queen-eight. “LaserMammoth” flopped trip eights, and expertly checked. “charlienutt2” fired a 141,127 bet, “LaserMammoth” responded with a check-raise to 282,254 before calling the 1,169,565 shove from their opponent. An ace on the turn made things more interesting, but the river bricked, and the tournament progressed to heads-up.
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“joicemar154” held a 10,635,283 to 5,864,717 lead over “LaserMammoth” going into the heads-up battle, and they wrapped up the victory within less than ten minutes. The final hand started with a limp from “LaserMammoth,” and a raise to 300,000 from “joicemar154.” “LaserMammoth” made it 850,000 to go, only for “joicemar154” to shove their stack into the middle. “LaserMammoth” called off the 5,952,217 chips they had behind and turned over ace-queen of diamonds. “joicemar154” held pocket queens, which held after fading a flush draw on the flop.
The worthy champion eliminated six of their seven opponents at the final table, and walked away with a total prize worth $10,718.
$120,000 XL Spring #03 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | joicemar154 | Brazil | $1,952 | $8,766 | $10,718 |
| 2 | LaserMammoth | Sweden | $824 | $6,408 | $7,232 |
| 3 | charlienutt2 | United Kingdom | $656 | $4,710 | $5,366 |
| 4 | popsnpoker | Canada | $366 | $3,462 | $3,828 |
| 5 | acefrommoon | Romania | $848 | $2,562 | $3,410 |
| 6 | Mr.Krabs | Kazahkstan | $49 | $1,908 | $1,957 |
| 7 | BrittneySpew | Romania | $625 | $1,434 | $2,059 |
| 8 | vzb_poker | Brazil | $13,474 | $1,086 | $14,560 |
888poker XL Spring Series Results So Far
Check out the results from the completed XL Spring Series numbered events so far.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #01 – $12,000 Opening Event Mystery Bounty | $11 | 1,603 | $16,030 | Zindane | $1,546* |
| #02 – $40,000 Opening Event Mystery Bounty | $55 | 766 | $40,000 | guizones27 | $3,799* |
| #03 – $120,000 Opening Event Mystery Bounty | $109 | 1,100 | $120,000 | joicemar154 | $10,718* |
| #04 – $40,000 Opening Event High Roller | $525 | 73 | $40,000 | DarshanS | $11,200 |
| #05 – $10,000 PKO Mini | $11 | 977 | $10,000 | xxtomasxx | $1,394* |
| #06 – $20,000 PKO | $55 | 431 | $21,550 | MoonMeander | $3,493* |
| #07 – $10,000 PKO 6-Max | $11 | 971 | $10,000 | skon89 | $1,515* |
| #08 – $15,000 PKO 6-Max High Roller | $320 | 70 | $21,000 | hello_br0tti | $6,628* |
*includes bounty payments
2024 XL Spring Series Numbered Event Schedule
The 888poker XL Spring Series continues rumbling on with at least two numbered events scheduled every day up to and including May 28. Those events include the massive $888 buy-in, $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event, which has Day 1s running right now.
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